


Daily Routines

by InkstainedGwyn



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M, Some innuendo, i love it, it's so fluffy it's sickening, two dorks grown up and being adults
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-29 11:33:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7682899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkstainedGwyn/pseuds/InkstainedGwyn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A what-if look at Souji and Yosuke's blissfully happy future, 15-20 years later. That's it. It's just domestic fluff. Married with jobs and a daughter, also a look at everyone else in the IT's future, plus Dojima and Nanako. Kind-of sort-of maybe takes place in the Thawing a Frozen Heart universe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Daily Routines

**Author's Note:**

> I got hit hard with the need for domestic adult Souji and Yosuke, so I indulged it. So much fluff I swear you'll drown. Some innuendo. It's disgusting and I love it.
> 
> Note that while this is much like the Thawing a Frozen Heart universe (Souji's adoption, etc), this is _not_ the future (or completely the future) Souji and Yosuke have, so this isn't spoilers.
> 
> Here's my [tumblr](https://ohlookashinysquirrel.tumblr.com) if you want to poke at me.

“Your copies, Mr. Seta.” 

Souji looked up as his office door opened; it was the summer intern, Masada, holding a folder. The 34-year-old lawyer smiled, nodding to the corner of his desk. 

“Thank you, just put them in the basket, and I’ll file them away as soon as I’m done with this proposal.” 

Once the intern had left, Souji sat back, stretching; as he did, his eye caught a picture frame sitting beside his computer monitor. A soft smile crossing his face, he reached over to pick it up; the photo had been taken the year before, when his father and sister had been visiting for the summer. Souji, dressed in a blue polo and grey jeans, had his arm around a shaggy-haired brunette wearing a yellow slogan t-shirt and brown cargo shorts - his husband, Yosuke. Souji’s younger sister Nanako stood in front of them wearing a lavender sundress and ballet flats; in her arms, she held Chisato, Souji and Yosuke’s adopted daughter, who had been three at the time. Chisato - wearing a pink and brown striped shirt-and-shorts set - was playing with Nanako’s elbow-length hair, and everyone was laughing, including the baby. Souji’s father had taken the photo, just before taking charge of his granddaughter; the detective was never happier than when he was playing with the little girl, who he said was ‘just like Nanako at that age’. Chisato, meanwhile, loved getting piggy-back rides from ‘Jiji’, screaming in delight as Dojima carried her around the backyard.

A chirp from the lawyer’s wrist brought his attention to his watch; it was a brand-new ‘iWatch’, a gift from Yosuke on their recent birthday - the brunette was a sucker for gadgets, and Souji had to admit it was pretty cool, although so far he only used it for scheduling, and alarms, and sometimes the step counter. According to the watch, it was noon; that meant time for lunch. 

Taking the opportunity to sit back and loosen his blue tie, Souji reached into the third drawer down on the right side of his desk; pulling out a grey box, he flipped the lid open, smiling at the contents. As always, everything was a little haphazardly-packed - Yosuke would never make _tidy_ lunches - but the egg salad was still delicious, as were the hamburg rounds and the steamed veggies. He remembered that morning with a fond smile; Yosuke still in his sweats and tank top, humming as he packed two meals - the silver box for Souji, and the small pink-and-yellow box (complete with hot dog octopi and misshapen onigiri that looked suspiciously like a certain old, retired mascot costume that was still sitting in the Hanamura family attic, in Inaba) for Chisato to take to daycare.

Before he touched a bite, however, he pulled out his phone; the daily routine was closer to a ritual by now.

> Lunchtime, don’t forget to eat.

Yosuke didn’t always respond right away; sometimes he was caught up in inspiration or wrapped in headphones or busy playing the same phrase over and over until he got it perfect. No matter how busy he was, though, he always returned Souji’s text before the silver-haired man had finished eating.

Today was relatively quick.

> Just sitting down. Egg salad sandwich, used the last of the tomatoes for a reg salad.

Souji smiled; gone were the days of ‘ _wat r u ^ 2 partner_ ,’ but he didn’t miss them that much.

> Morning go okay?

> Perf, think I’m getting somewhere. ( ᐛ )و What do you want me to buy for dinner?

After all, the brunette still loved his emoji. Souji just chuckled, packing away his now-empty bento box.

> No particular wishes. What do you and Chi want?

> She said something about shoe when I dropped her off at daycare, so probably stew. 

> I’ll make nikujaga, then. You want anything?

There was a pause, then, of ten minutes or so; Souji set his phone aside, picking up the papers he’d said he’d file. Once he was done, there was a new text waiting. 

> Nothing… for dinner? How about I pick us up something to drink, though. Maybe for after princess goes to bed?

Looking at the text, a smile broke across Souji’s face; he’d been busy the last few nights with a contract he’d just finished, and before that Yosuke had been working particularly hard on a new commission, so they hadn’t had a lot of extra time together recently. 

> I think I’d love that. Beer, shochu, take your pick. 

> Oooh. Shochu. (/^▽^)/ Also…

Souji had just slipped his glasses on, turning back to his computer; raising an eyebrow, he responded with a quick,

> You know you can ask anything.

The reply was faster than he’d expected.

> Don’t change out of your suit when you get home? I mean, the jacket’s fine, but… and maybe your glasses?

The lawyer just smirked.

> Your wish is my command.

* * *

Yosuke couldn’t hide his grin at Souji’s last text; a grin followed up by a cheesy smile as he imagined his husband sitting at his computer, wearing glasses, typing at lightning speed… and smirking. Yosuke was very, _very_ familiar with Souji’s smirk of happiness; they’d been together for seventeen years now, and his husband’s response to Yosuke’s clothes-related requests hadn’t changed, though they were no longer blushing seventeen-year-olds making out on the floodplain or whenever they had the chance and no one was home (or everyone was asleep). The effect the smirk had on the brunette had never changed, either. 

Cleaning up his lunch dishes, Yosuke went back into the den. He had two hours before it was time to pick Chisato up from daycare; they’d go shopping for dinner groceries, maybe stop at a park if she didn’t have too much homework. It was a routine they both loved. 

Slipping on his headphones, he re-started the music track he’d been working on editing all morning; it was for a mid-story fight scene for a fantasy game soundtrack he’d been commissioned to compose, and he had yet to get the timing just right. 

As he fiddled with the editing software, his mind drifted. Life had been so very good for them - and for their friends - that sometimes Yosuke wondered if Naoto hadn’t been right when she’d murmured something, years ago, about karmic balance. All of the crap they’d gone through back in high school - the TV world was no dream, even if it seemed that way now (or did whenever he hadn’t heard Susano-o chuckle at him for some time) - certainly _could_ count towards karma owed, though Yosuke had never been quite that superstitious.

Either way, beyond the standard life-wise bumps and bends in the road, the life he and his partner - now _partner_ partner, his husband - had built was as close to picture-perfect as it could get. Souji and Yosuke had managed to get into uni together; Yosuke studied music composition, and Souji decided to stop caring about his biological parents and went ahead with the law degree he’d always _really_ wanted. While Souji was in law school, Yosuke was busy writing and recording music; Souji graduated at twenty-five - Yosuke proposed at the graduation party - and they were married that same year. It was a small ceremony, but everybody they cared about was there, and _damn_ if Souji didn’t look _fan-fucking-tastic_ in a dove-grey tailcoat. The brunette filed the memory away for another clothes-related request, some time down the road. 

The silver-haired young man had focused on contracts and music law, which put him in the perfect place to manage the business side of Yosuke’s burgeoning music career; Yosuke had released a few hits, and they’d toured for a few years, but eventually he decided that it really wasn’t where his interests lay. He enjoyed playing around with ambient music, tv and movie soundtracks, video game music, and experimental stuff more than trying to turn out another top-40 hit. Besides, they were both thirty; settling down was actually a thing, and they were both interested in it.

Souji found a job with a contract law firm whose practices he actually respected, quickly becoming recognized as having a level head, sharp eye, and a great rapport with clients. The couple lived in small apartments in the city for a few years before Souji was promoted to a junior partner; at that point, with his new salary and the royalties Yosuke was pulling in from his mid-20s hits (as well as the commissions and respect he was slowly garnering in the composition world) they bought a nice three-bedroom house in Setagaya-ku, only a thirty-minute commute by train (or fifteen by car) from Souji’s office. 

Now that there was room for Yosuke to turn the den into a recording studio, he could work from home. This meant they could look into the last thing they’d decided they wanted when first talking about settling down - adoption.

They’d done all the research, the paperwork, and they’d prepared themselves for a long process, but in reality, it happened very quickly; within minutes of first meeting Chisato (who’d been nicknamed Kiki at the time) they both fell in love. Naming her Chisato was an easy choice, too; Souji might not have ever known his aunt, but her strength and kindness - through Nanako, and Dojima - had saved Souji more times than he could count, and for that Yosuke was so, so grateful. 

When Dojima held her - his first grandchild - for the first time, he cried. 

Dojima was now Chief of Inaba Municipal Police; he griped sometimes that he was tired of desk work, but he still kept his hand in with cases, and a desk job helped when his arthritis - especially where he’d been injured in the car wreck that fateful November - decided to act up. Nanako, now twenty-four and a beautiful young woman, was a dance instructor in Inaba. Rumour had it that she was dating Mizuki-kun, now a young police officer; of course, rumour also had it that she was dating Mai-chan (who worked at the Inaba library). Yosuke was relatively certain that they were all three dating each other; as long as they were all happy and everything was mutual, he didn’t care. 

Yukiko had taken over the Amagi Inn; when her parents passed away suddenly in an accident - while Souji and Yosuke were both in college - Chie moved in, and the two women managed the Inn together. They’d gotten married the year before Souji and Yosuke. Rise was still in the music business - having moved on from idolhood to managing all of the best and brightest new stars to pass through her talent agency (she’d helped Yosuke and Souji more than once when Yosuke was touring, though he didn’t perform the genres of music her agency represented.) When she wasn’t on tour, she lived with Naoto and Kanji. Naoto was still working as a detective, but she’d never gone into the police force; instead, when she wasn’t actively on a case, she helped Kanji manage his fashion business, as he'd become a relatively-successful clothing designer. The media had never gotten quite to the bottom of what Rise’s relationship _was_ with Naoto and Kanji (who’d never married, but were very, very happily together), but, well… it was none of the media’s business. Teddie had never grown like the rest of them; he’d moved back to the TV world, but the portals between had never closed, and every time Souji and Yosuke visited Inaba, he was more than happy to come stay with them, and he still spent time with “Nana-chan and everybody else” when the guys weren’t in town.

* * *

Lost in thought, Yosuke missed the clock striking two; he was used to this, however, and within five minutes an alert had popped up on his tablet, reminding him that it was time to go pick Chisato up. Saving his progress - having finally managed to nail down the tempo to the piece he was working on - he grabbed the car keys and slipped into his shoes. 

When he got to the daycare, Chi was waiting, like usual; as he walked up to the building, her eyes lit up, and she went running down the sidewalk, arms held out. 

“Daddy!” 

Smiling, he lifted her up, blowing a raspberry on her neck. As she giggled, he turned to her teachers, checking in with them to see what sort of homework she had; yet another daily routine. Folder in hand, he strapped her into her carseat, and as they did every day, they headed for the store. 

“Daddy, what’s dinner?”

They strolled through the local market hand-in-hand; Yosuke had a shopping basket on his other elbow. Stopping to eye the potatoes - _this is a really good sale, I should get some extras and make korokke for lunch tomorrow_ \- he squeezed Chi’s hand. 

“Dad’s making stew. Hang on, honey, I’m going to let go for a few, don’t wander off.”

“Yay, shoe!” The little girl clapped, then held onto the bottom of Yosuke’s shorts until he’d picked out a good half-dozen potatoes before taking her hand again.

“Yep. How about pudding for dessert?”

“Oooh! I _love_ pudding! Dad loves it, too!” 

“That he does.”

* * *

With Yosuke’s help, Chi was just finishing glueing the last piece of macaroni to her sunflower picture when the clock struck six thirty and, right on time, they heard a key in the lock. As Souji opened the door, he heard, “Dad’s home!” and the sound of running footsteps, followed by a sharp, “What did we say about running inside?”

The footsteps slowed - Souji smiled as he heard a quiet, “Sorry, daddy!” - and he had time to set his briefcase down, slip out of his shoes, and hang his coat before Chi appeared in the living room doorway. Her face brightened and - forgetting Yosuke’s admonition, as she did every day - she ran towards the silver-haired man, throwing herself into his arms, just like Nanako once had. 

“Dad!” 

“How’s my girl?” He hugged her tightly, kissing the top of her head while she threw her arms around his neck; he looked up at Yosuke, who’d followed her and was smiling at his husband with the same, warm look in his amber eyes that he had every day. 

“Welcome home, partner.” Smiling - still holding Chi - Souji leaned over and Yosuke gave him a kiss. 

“Have a good day?”

“Yep. Music’s coming along, groceries are got, and we made some pretty badass macaroni sunflowers. Right, Chi?”

“Right, daddy!” Chisato kept her arms around Souji’s neck as he carried her into the kitchen; Yosuke retrieved the bento box from Souji’s briefcase and took it over to the sink to wash. Souji sat their daughter down in her chair before ruffling her hair. “Time to change and cook!” She said this in a sing-song voice; she’d just gotten to the point where she recognized ‘routines,’ and she loved to count them out.

“Nope.” Souji caught Yosuke’s eye, smirking as the brunette grinned, turning away to hide his flush. “Dad’s just going to cook tonight.”

“Oooooooh, wow.” Deviations from the routine always fascinated Chisato - if not for the same reasons that Yosuke liked them. 

As Souji rolled up his sleeves, Chisato - who was scribbling in her colouring book - started to talk about their afternoon. “We went shopping for shoe groceries, and we bought pudding-” Souji raised an eyebrow at Yosuke, who grinned at him “-and then we went to the park!”

“Did you go on the swings? Hey, partner, come lend me a hand?”

Yosuke - who’d been leaning on the counter, arms crossed as he watched Souji cook (still the brunette's favourite pastime) - walked over; his husband, who had an onion in one hand and a knife in the other, leaned his head forward. “Will you loosen my tie and unbutton the top button on my shirt? It’s warm in here but I don’t want to mess up my shirt and my hands are all-over onion.”

The brunette - knowing _exactly_ what Souji was doing - caught his eye as he leaned in to do as the silver-haired man ( _silver-haired tease_ ) asked; they smirked at each other as Chi nodded, oblivious to her fathers’ flirting. 

“Yep! I went on the swings and we made a sand castle and, oh! I saw a kitty!”

“A kitty?” Souji perked up and Yosuke had to slap a hand over his mouth to keep himself from bursting into laughter. _Even after all these years, he’s never changed_. 

“Yeah! It was grey and fuzzy and it had a spot on its ear and green eyes.”

“Ohhh. That does sound nice.” Souji went quiet for a moment, and Yosuke just _knew_ he was wondering whether or not it’d be there again if he went next time. Chi, meanwhile, continued to talk about their day.

* * *

The rest of the night was indistinguishable from their time back in Inaba, so long ago; they had dinner, and Souji did the dishes while Yosuke and Chi watched her favourite show, and then Souji put their daughter to bed, reading her a story as she fell asleep. 

When he came back into the living room, Yosuke was just pouring shochu into two glasses with ice; Souji dropped onto the couch with a sigh of happiness, glad to finally get off his feet, and the brunette handed him one of the glasses before settling back against his husband’s shoulder. They tapped their drinks together, and Souji - wrapping an arm around the brunette’s side - kissed the top of Yosuke’s head before taking a long sip.

“It’s supposed to be good weather this weekend. I think there’s a princess show on at DisneySea - should we take Chi?”

Yosuke hmm’d. “I _want_ to... but we also need to do laundry and paint the patio. The laundry can’t really wait, and we said we’d paint the patio the next time we had a sunny weekend.”

“Well…” Souji rubbed his nose, before taking another drink and then setting his glass on the table. “How about I take tomorrow off? There won’t be as many people at the park, and then we can do the chores this weekend, together.”

“Really?” Yosuke put his glass down before turning, a surprised smile on his face. “Can you spare the time?”

“Yep.” Souji smiled, a gentle look in his silver eyes. “I just finished that big contract. Can you spare the day?”

The brunette grinned. “ _Ab-so-lutely_ , I sent the first half of the commission off already and I’m three tracks ahead on the last half.”

“Perfect.” Souji’s smile matched Yosuke’s. “Hmmm, think we can sleep in tomorrow?”

“I think we’re going to have to.” Yosuke’s grin slipped into a smirk as he leaned forward, looping his finger in Souji’s loose tie. “Especially since _somebody’s_ still in his work clothes.” 

“Oh, that’s right.” Souji reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out his glasses; slipping them on, he raised an eyebrow at his husband. “Is that better?” 

Yosuke took a second to admire Souji - adolescent lankiness had grown into broad shoulders and long legs, and Souji’s charcoal-grey dress shirt and black suit pants only accentuated his muscular torso and trim hips - before groaning softly. “ _Dammit_ , partner… you’re too perfect…” Pinning Souji to the couch, Yosuke straddled his waist, capturing his lips in a heated kiss as Souji ran his hands up the brunette’s back. 

To Souji, _Yosuke_ was the perfect one; he’d never quite lost his boyish frame, and he could (and often did) still fit into some of his outfits from college, including a pair of red cargo pants that Kanji had replaced - at Souji’s request - at least twice. The brunette was taller now - his height never quite met Souji’s, but there were only a couple of inches of difference - his hair was still copper, though a bit shaggier, and he often skipped a day shaving, as Souji loved the stubble as much as he loved the brunette’s ear cuffs.

After a few minutes, Souji pulled away from the heated kiss, his breathing rough as he tried to catch his breath. Cupping Yosuke’s neck in his hands - running his thumb along the brunette’s jaw - he gave a raw, _blissful_ smile, leaning over to rest his forehead against his husband’s.

“I love you _so much_ , partner.” 

Smiling, Yosuke put his hands over Souji’s as he closed his eyes, exhaling deeply. 

“I love you, too, partner.”

**Author's Note:**

>  **Jiji** \- shortened version of "ojiisan", or grandfather.  
>  **nikujaga** \- Japanese beef stew, usually with potatoes  
>  **onigiri** \- rice balls, often made into shapes  
>  **shochu** \- an alcoholic drink, often made from a mix of liquors, such as rice, barley, and sweet potatoes  
>  **Setagaya-ku** \- a suburban residential area very close to central Tokyo, with cultural facilities such as art museums and libraries, and many parks, as well as a lot of high class residential areas  
>  **korokke** \- croquettes, usually made from potato and stuffed with beef, chicken, cheese, etc.


End file.
